As wireless networks evolve and grow, there are ongoing challenges in providing high-quality service to increasing numbers of wireless devices or user equipment (UE) in various coverage areas of a wireless network. One approach to improving service quality and coverage is to designate a wireless device as a relay node or relay UE for relaying communication between a base station or access node (donor access node), and an end-user wireless device. Relay wireless devices may be used at the edge of a coverage area of an access node to improve coverage and/or service, as well as in crowded areas having a high number of other wireless devices to increase the available throughput to the end-user wireless devices being relayed. However, end-user wireless device performance can be dependent on the quality of the connection between the relay wireless device and the donor access node. Because of this dependency, techniques to enhance channel quality and mitigate interference between the relay wireless device and donor access node can provide benefits to users of the system.
Overview
Exemplary embodiments described herein include systems, methods, and nodes for managing channel quality for a relay wireless device. Interference experienced in one or more sectors of an access node that include a relay wireless device may be monitored. It may be determined that the monitored interference in at least one sector of the access node meets a mitigation criteria. One or more potential interfering sectors from access nodes neighboring the access node that are performing reference signal power boosting may be identified such that the potential interfering sectors are adjacent to the one sector of the access node. One or more neighboring access nodes may be instructed to selectively reduce reference signal power boosting in the potential interfering sectors.